Doula Bytes: Collaboration vs Competition in the Birth Community
In the birth community, there seems to be two sides when it comes to the idea of competition vs collaboration.
Some believe that collaboration should always trump competition. While others believe that competition is healthy and pushes us to do better.
In this Doula Byte, we discuss the idea of collaboration over competition and share our ideas, beliefs, and viewpoints on this divided topic.
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2 Comments
Ann Carroll
I live in a very small community and while I do not market myself with others…I think it’s important that we support each other. And if I’m not in a clients price range -I am happy to provide contact info for lesser priced doulas. I also totally support clients interviewing other doulas so they can find the doula that is the best fit for them. If they meet with someone else and resonate with them -they should hire them. So it’s a non-competitive environment. Some of them also offer other services that I don’t offer and I’ll provide contact info.
Sarita Bennett
I think that the concept of competition, which has been necessary for humans to challenge each other through the ages to improve their skills for the good of all, has become twisted by the very oppressive culture we live in. Instead competition has become a dysfunction coping mechanism (this concept is very well explained by Bethany Webster in her blog http://www.womboflight.com as she explains the danger of the Mother Wound), that we use to try to base our value on as a person. And, I see doulas and midwives participate in this dysfunctional coping mechanism with great skill. Also, I recently saw a definition of collaboration that I think is perfect: Collaboration is not about the gluing together of existing egos; it is about the ideas that never existed until after everyone entered the room. What this podcast described as collaboration, I would describe as networking.